Tariffs. The BUILT USA Act (H.R. 9827, introduced Sept. 25 by Rep. Golden, D-Maine) would impose a ten percent tariff on all goods and services imported into the U.S. Each subsequent calendar year this duty would increase or decrease by five percent depending on whether the U.S. maintains a trade deficit or surplus, respectively.
China. S. 5264 (introduced Sept. 25 by Sen. Cotton, R-Ark.) would terminate permanent normal trade relations status for China, phase-in tariffs on Chinese products over five years (including 100 percent tariffs for goods determined to be important to national security), empower the president to create supplementary quotas and tariffs to phase out Chinese imports and to institute overriding bans on specific Chinese goods, and end de minimis treatment for covered nations (including China) and require customs brokers for other de minimis shipments.
Forced Labor. Four senators wrote to the trade ministers of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico Sept. 18 expressing hope that the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act “can serve as a model for similar legislation in Canada and Mexico so that North America can truly be a region free of goods produced through forced labor.” They also called for expanded cooperation to “prevent the importation into one USCMA country of products denied entry into another due to a determination that forced labor was used, in whole or in part, in the manufacturing process of that product.”
CTPAT. The House approved Sept. 23 S. 794, which would create a pilot program allowing up to 20 non-asset-based third-party logistics providers to become certified in the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. This bill was passed by the Senate in July 2023.
